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NORWALK -- A city man shot several times was found dead by a janitor Wednesday morning behind Nathaniel Ely School, police said.

The man was identified by police as Karl "K-Dot" Savage, 30, of 93 Ferris Ave.

The janitor called police at 8:53 a.m. after finding Savage on the ground behind the school, about 60 feet away from Roodner Court's Building 19.

The school, used by Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now's Head Start program, was not open when the body was discovered, Lt. Paul Resnick said. No one at the school was in any danger because police believe Savage was killed sometime during the night, Resnick said.

Savage is the city's first homicide in 2010, and the first shooting death since convenience store clerk Jose Joaquin Morales, 33, of 17 Lee St., Stamford, was gunned down during an October robbery.

Court records show that Savage was arrested 13 times, mostly for misdemeanors. He had a 2002 felony conviction at state Superior Court in Norwalk for second-degree robbery, criminal use of a weapon and criminal possession of a weapon. He was sentenced to four years in jail and five years probation.

Savage was an early suspect in a September 2006 robbery-murder where one Stamford man was killed and three others shot, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. Two other men were convicted of the crime and are serving lengthy jail sentences. Savage was never charged.

In the affidavit for one of the men, Marcus Watson, Savage was identified in 2006 as an associate of known "Westsiders" gang members, including Watson.

The gang was centered around the Colonial Village public housing complex at that time.

Friends and family gathered on Ferris Avenue Wednesday to mourn Savage's death. The family did not want to comment.

Several Roodner Court residents told reporters and police detectives looking for leads that they heard numerous shots during the night. No one called police to report the shots, Resnick said.

Two young women living at the Roodner Court public housing complex, who did not want to be identified, said they heard one shot, then up to five more blasts in quick succession between 12:30 and 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Resnick said Savage was shot several times and police have found forensic evidence at the scene. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday, Resnick said.

One resident of Building 19, who would only give her name as Denise, said she was worried for her safety at the public housing complex, which last saw a murder on Christmas Day 2007, when Larry Paulk was shot and killed inside Building 13.

"It's tragic. This isn't the first time this has happened here. You can't go outside without something happening. I don't come out during the night," she said.

Other residents said hearing gunshots was not that unusual, which may explain why no one called the shots in to police.

Staff writer John Nickerson can be reached at 203-964-2320 or john.nickerson@scni.com.